Reissues

Our pick of the paperbacks: 84K (13 September, Orbit) by Claire North (real name Catherine Webb; aka Kate Griffin). Set in a future UK where a sprawling Company has the country in a stranglehold, this bleak dystopia follows a civil servant who, after a former girlfriend is murdered, goes in search of the daughter he never knew he had. We said: “The truly scary thing about 84K is how convincing this dark, brutal, class-divided Britain is. Perhaps this book should be mandatory reading for anybody in British politics.” Also well worth a look: Louise Erdrich’s FUTURE HOME OF THE LIVING GOD (out now, Corsair). After evolution goes haywire, with primitive species of humans being born, society begins to disintegrate and expectant women are rounded up. Events unfold through the diary entries a pregnant woman on the run. We said: “Smart and compelling, it’s ultimately deeply unsettling because it all feels horribly plausible.” Finally, John Gwynne’s A TIME OF DREAD (out now, Tor) kicks off epic fantasy series Of Blood And Bone, located in the same world as his Faithful And The Fallen quartet. Set a century later, it centres on Riv, a soldier who finds a rift among the warrior angels who rule the land, and Drem, a tracker who finds evidence that their demonic enemies aren’t such a spent force. We said: “Gwynne does an excellent job of weaving a classic light vs dark tale while keeping it interesting.”